[quote=Ink-berry]
Alright, I was doodling last week, and this was what I ended up with. :p (It's rather PMMM inspired, by the way.) I know the arm / elbow in particular looks a little weird, as well as the placement of the hand, but I don't really know how to fix it. Could I have some help with that, if possible? Also, do you guys have any advice on how to move from a more anime-ish style to a more semi-realistic style? I'm tempted to switch, but don't really know how.
[/quote]

Ooh! I can help! A big thing to do is to just start drawing from life as much as possible. Look at some good reference photos and study them, look at the people around you (without being creepy haha) and see how their bodies move, twist, stretch and relax. I think a big issue with switching over to semi/realism is the faces and other such details. A problem with me, evident in my sketches, is faces. I would love to go for a comic book-y sort of realism but, alas, I am awful with faces that don't look deformed or make my people look like a bunch of ridiculous no-lip fish monsters. Anime doesn't particularly switch up proportioning as far as the figure, so just keep in mind that limbs and the body looks vastly different dependent upon body type, angle and positioning and the transition body-wise might not be too bad.

Also to fix that elbow/slightly short arm! The elbow typically goes down to the navel, which in turn is about in the center of gravity, or the middle of the abdomen. If you have any other issues that you can't quite place as far as anatomy or posing, look in a mirror or look down at yourself. If there's someone else with you, you might be able to ask them to pose. You are one of your most convenient references! So long as you aren't a little person or have other such major variations in proportioning, feel free to use yourself for quick little ideas of what a pose/figure should look like.